For SEC baseball in NCAA tourney, eight is enough

Here’s a look at the eight SEC teams that were picked Monday for the NCAA Baseball Tournament.

Florida — No. 1 seed in Gainesville Regional and No. 1 overall seed even though the Gators did not win the SEC or the SEC Tournament. The Gators were 18-12 in the league, which tied them with UK for second in the East, a half game behind South Carolina. Florida took two of three from Kentucky in the regular season.

LSU — No. 1 seed in Baton Rouge Regional and No. 7 seed overall, though the Tigers lost two out of three to Kentucky in Lexington. LSU was the SEC regular-season champion with an overall record of 19-11.

John Cohen gets Gatorade bath after winning SEC tourney. (AP photo)

South Carolina — No. 1 seed in Columbia Regional and No. 8 seed overall. The two-time defending champions were swept by UK in Lexington in March. The Gamecocks did win the SEC East with an 18-11 mark.

Kentucky — No. 2 seed in the Gary, Indiana Regional. UK won 20 SEC games this year, going 18-12 in the regular season and 2-1 in the SEC Tournament. Remember, this is a Kentucky team that went 8-22 in league play just a season ago. It’s the Cats’ first trip to the NCAA tourney since 2008.

Mississippi State — No. 2 seed in the Tallahassee regional. The Bulldogs won the SEC Tournament and beat UK in four of five meetings this year. John Cohen’s club was 16-14 in the regular season which tied the Bulldogs with Arkansas for second place in the SEC West.

Vanderbilt — No. 2 seed in the Raleigh regional. The Commodores lost to Mississippi State in the finals of the SEC Tournament on Sunday. Kentucky took two of three from Vandy in Nashville. The ‘Dores were 16-14 in league play.

Arkansas — No. 2 seed in the Houston regional. UK took two of three from the Razorbacks in Fayetteville. Arkansas was tied with MSU for second in the SEC West at 16-14.

Ole Miss — No. 3 seed in the College Station Regional. Kentucky took two of three from the Rebels in the regular season, then blanked Ole Miss 2-0 in the SEC Tournament. Ole Miss was 14-16 in league play.